Weston school bus schedules are online

The Weston school district has posted its bus routes and schedules for the 2012-13 school year on its website, westonps.org. School begins for students on Monday, Aug. 27.

Information on the website includes bus numbers, bus stop locations and approximate pick-up and drop-off times for students in all four schools, as well as information on kindergarten transportation and general transportation policies.

Weston runs two bus “tiers” — an early tier to pick up middle school and high school students (grades six through 12), and a later one to pick up those attending Hurlbutt Elementary School and Weston Intermediate School (kindergarten through grade five).

Dave Lustberg, director of transportation for the district, said Weston, which has contracted with First Student for bus service, has 20 buses, plus two that strictly serve special education students.

All buses are equipped with working surveillance cameras. The camera policy and regulations may be found along with the other bus and transportation information on the school website.

All Weston buses are also equipped with GPS tracking devices. These are not used to navigate, Mr. Lustberg said; they allow him to track from his computer where a bus is located at any given time. “If a bus gets stuck or is running late, I’ll know exactly where it is,” he said.

The school district is running all buses on Friday, Aug. 24, for a practice run and also to pick up incoming freshmen for the ninth grade orientation at Weston High School. Separate bus schedule information specifically for orientation, which runs from 9 to 11 a.m., is on the website under the Transportation and Bus Info link.

There is also a separate schedule and information for kindergarten students. Mr. Lustberg explained that the first 14 school days — which encompasses the first three weeks of school — will be early dismissal days (1:15) for kindergartners.

Beginning Monday, Sept. 17, Weston will implement its full-day kindergarten program. From that day on, kindergartners will go for full school days (dismissing at 3:15), and they will ride the same buses home as the rest of the Hurlbutt and intermediate school students.

Other than the changes to the kindergarten schedule, Mr. Lustberg said there are no major changes to the bus routes or schedules from last year.

However, he said, residents should check the schedule even if they haven’t moved. “There may be some slight changes to routes even if [your residence] hasn’t changed,” he said, especially for those who live on long roads or in neighborhoods with a lot of families.

Mr. Lustberg also recommends reconfirming bus information on the website just before the start of the school year, since slight changes and tweaks are being made to the bus routes every day as new information comes in, he said.

Mr. Lustberg reminded parents that pick-up and drop-off times listed on the bus schedule are approximate and students should be at bus stops before the listed pick-up time in the morning, especially the first few weeks of school.

For questions, comments or suggestions relating to transportation in the Weston school district, contact Mr. Lustberg at [email protected] or 203-291-1477.